This piece was originally published on The Fifth Estate.  By Blair Palese Australia’s democracy is currently under threat in ways never before seen in our history. Under the guise of protecting the country from foreign “tampering”, Malcolm Turnbull’s government has proposed a bill that would decimate the work of the tens of thousands of charities in Australia and strip us of our voice in political debate.

This piece was originally published on Eco-Business. By Blair Palese From the UK and China to Denmark, Chile and India, an inexorable global rush to move from polluting coal is under way. And it’s not just climate change and the Paris agreement that are the catalyst. Renewable energy is now cheaper than coal in most parts of the world.

This year, the choice between dirty fossil fuels and clean, renewable power has never been clearer. Time’s up for old, outdated technology that pollutes our climate and our health. The future, powered by the sun and the wind, is on our doorstep. On 24 March — one year before the NSW state election — people from around the state will converge on Sydney to make a powerful call to protect land, water and people from the impacts of coal and gas mining.

We’re just a couple of weeks away from turbocharging the movement to #StopAdani cooking our climate and wrecking our Reef. Speaking notes are being drafted, vollie rosters being filled, stages being swept and buses being booked. Here are 11 reasons why you don’t want to miss out on this exciting event: 1. 

Powerful, impassioned essays on living and being in the world, from the bestselling author of “The End of Nature “and “Deep Economy.” For a generation, Bill McKibben has been among America’s most impassioned and beloved writers on our relationship to our world and our environment. His groundbreaking book on climate change, “The End of Nature,” is considered “as important as Rachel Carson’s classic “Silent Spring””* and “Deep Economy, “his “deeply thoughtful and mind-expanding”** exploration of globalization, helped awaken and fuel a movement to restore local economies.